High School Football: Episcopal Academy shuts out Germantown Academy

NEWTOWN SQUARE — No team in Southeastern Pennsylvania is the subject of more hypotheticals than Episcopal Academy.

How good are the Churchmen? Do they match up well against the other undefeated teams in the region? How far would they go in the state playoffs if they were a PIAA team? Who designed those helmets?

In honor of those unanswerable questions about the (controversial?) top-ranked team in the Daily Times’ Super 7, it seemed fitting to run with the hypotheticals after Episcopal ran over Germantown Academy, 47-0, on a breezy Saturday afternoon in its final home game of the season.

The perfect man for the job was senior Quinn Hager. Against the Patriots he had a dazzling, 26-yard touchdown grab at wide receiver, an interception at the goal line at free safety, and hammered home five extra points and hit several high, deep kickoffs, including a pair of touchbacks.

So, the hypothetical question for Episcopal coach Todd Fairlie: If you could only use Hager in one phase of the game, would you choose offense, defense or special teams?

“I’m glad I don’t have to choose,” said Fairlie, who in his second season as coach is a win over Haverford School away from having a program that didn’t win an Inter-Ac game in 2010 run the table for a 10-0 season. “But I guess receiver, because his threat for big downfield plays.

“But it would be tough not to have him as a kicker. You can see the difference he makes in this type of weather. He was still able to execute. But as a receiver he’s a heck of a player. All three phases of the game he’s a heck of a player.”

Hager’s touchdown grab early in the second quarter was the highlight-reel moment in an otherwise mundane blowout for Episcopal. As quarterback Adam Strouss (148 yards rushing, 143 yards passing) lofted the ball into the end zone, Hager strayed from his pattern and turned the wrong way for the pass — so much so that the coaches already were groaning on the sidelines.

Somehow, he veered, turned his body and got to the ball in time to make a fingertip grab. It was a sublime display of athleticism, and he could be excused for shanking the extra point after making the energy-sapping grab.

“Strouss says he can never make a throw that I can’t catch,” Hager said. “He said no matter how far away it is from me, I’ll get to it. He told me he was testing me there.”

While Hager agreed with his coach that if he were forced to choose, he would go with wide receiver, that isn’t where his future in football lies. Although he has yet to make a college choice, he is crossing his fingers that his hope to be a kicker and punter at the University of Central Florida comes to be.

Another player who stood out both offensively and defensively for the Churchmen Saturday was junior defensive end/wideout Evan Butts. He caught TD passes of 28 and 65 yards, but what stood out was the way he used his 6-4 frame to torment GA quarterback Hayes Nolte, batting down three passes, getting two sacks and recoving a fumble in the backfield.

Generously listed at 215 pounds, it’s easy to tell that Nolte plays basketball. His hand-eye coordination and relentlessness in traffic scream power forward.

“I definitely think I shock people with my frame,” said Butts, who is getting early FBS recruiting feelers. “I think when people think about a D-lineman they probably think they are a little bit bulkier, but I have to height for it and the speed for it. So I try to wreak havoc like that.”

“I like to use my experience in basketball and translate it onto the football field. It gives me another edge on some of these kids who only play football.”

EA has had a signficant edge on pretty much every team this season. They can complete their run with a road win over the Fords, and let the debate continue about where they fit among the state’s best teams.

“It would be nice,” Fairlie said of an unbeaten season, “but more importantly to win the league. We’ve just been consistent, and a lot of that credit goes to the kids.”